


Naruto:Reincarnated

by Darkangel19881



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-22
Packaged: 2018-12-30 16:15:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12112446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Darkangel19881/pseuds/Darkangel19881
Summary: YAOI After being rejected by Itachi, Naruto goes missing during a mission. Can Naruto be found or will it lead to the ultimate heartbreak for Itachi? ItaNaru





	1. Chapter 1

Naruto: Reincarnated  
Chapter one

“Naruto Uzumaki went missing on his last mission.” The Hokage of Konoha told the three ninja standing before her. “He was expected in Suna a week ago, but never arrived. Gaara just informed me.”   
“Then where is he?” Sakura asked, her green eyes filled with worry. It wasn’t like Naruto to miss out on a chance to visit with Gaara. The two Jinchuuriki’s had been close ever since that mission to rescue Gaara from the Akatsuki.  
“I don’t know” Tsunade replied. “I strongly suspect that someone laid out a trap for him and he walked right into it.”  
“That idiot.” Sasuke Uchiha the moodier member of team 7 grumbled. “He probably didn’t think anything of it.” Sasuke couldn’t help but wonder what kind of trap had been laid to lure his idiotic but kind hearted best friend in. What kind of mission would Naruto have taken without his other team members. While they were all more than capable of taking on solo missions, the majority of the time they preferred taking team missions. Of course though since Sasuke and Sakura had gotten married Naruto had been trying to give the two of them time to adjust to being a married couple. Both Sasuke and Sakura knew that Naruto was feeling a little left out, which could be one of the reasons why Naruto had taken a solo mission to Suna to begin with. Was it possible that Naruto would still be with them if they had been more welcoming?   
“What do you need us to do?” Sakura asked though she was ready to leave the village that very minute if it meant that Naruto would be coming home safe and sound.   
“I want your team to go out and find out what happened to him.” The blonde haired woman stated linking her hands together in front of her face. “and if possible I want you to bring him home and Sasuke I will have Shizune stay with Itachi while you are gone. I know you worry about his health.” Sasuke nodded Itachi’s health had gotten so bad that he had retired from from being a ninja. Lately Itachi didn’t have the energy to get out of bed, Sasuke worried that Itachi wouldn’t last until a cure was found, which is one of the reasons he only took missions that were close to the village if he took them at all. However since this mission was for Naruto Sasuke would go. He had silently worried about Naruto ever since his wedding to Sakura. Sakura couldn’t remember the last time Naruto had actually gone on a date. He remembered that Naruto and Hinata had dated for a few months but the shy Hyuuga had called it quits, having finally admitted that she had feelings for her own teammate Kiba. It hadn’t been fair to Naruto for Hinata to keep dating Naruto when she didn’t have feelings for him. Sasuke had felt sorry for Naruto when he had heard about the break up, but when he spoke to Naruto about it, his friend didn’t seem that upset about it. It was then that Sasuke remembered that Naruto had spent much of the reception avoiding Hinata and Kiba, instead choosing to spend the time talking quietly with Itachi, whom no one else seemed to want to talk to because Itachi was completely blind and now wheelchair bound and no one knew what to say to him. After the wedding though, Sasuke realized that Naruto had been coming over to the Uchiha compound and just hanging out with Itachi. Sasuke realized that Naruto and Itachi had been getting closer for the last few months. While Sasuke had originally thought that Naruto had been coming over to sit with Itachi so that Sasuke could help Sakura finish moving her things into the Uchiha compound, Sasuke wondered if there was something more going on between Naruto and his older brother aside from the budding friendship between the two shinobi.   
“Earth to Sasuke” Tsunade’s irritated voice broke through Sasuke’s thoughts making Sasuke aware that she had probably called his name more than once. Sasuke noticed also the sting to his ribs where Sakura had shoved an elbow into his ribs.   
“Sorry,” Sasuke said as his cheeks turned red. “I just thought of something, but it doesn’t have anything to do with what’s going on.”  
“Like I was saying, Shizune is more than capable of caring for Itachi while you are gone. If Itachi should get worse while you are away, I will send a messenger bird.” Tsunade said, she didn’t want to send Sasuke away with his brother being so ill but she knew that Sasuke would always want to be on the team to search for his missing best friend. Tsunade only hoped that the members of Team 7 would be able to bring back some good news. Konoha needed its ray of sunshine back.   
“Where did he go missing?” Sakura asked a look of concern on her face as she glanced at her husband.  
“Somewhere between here and Suna.” Tsunade replied. “I would be prepared for battle just in case. I’m not sure what you will come across.”  
The meeting ended a few minutes later and the three ninja exited the office, Kakashi going in the opposite direction of his former students after agreeing to meet at the village gates in a couple of hours.   
“What was going on with you in there?” Sakura asked. “it’s not like you to space out like that, especially during a mission briefing.”  
“I was just thinking of how much time that Naruto has been spending with Itachi lately.” Sasuke said “and it’s made me start to wonder about it.”  
“There’s nothing strange about that.” Sakura said “Naruto is a friendly person. I’m sure it’s good for Itachi to have some company.”  
“Did you know that Itachi is gay?” Sasuke asked. “not many people want to visit with him because of that.”  
“What are you saying?” Sakura asked. “that Naruto has some kind of relationship with him?”  
“I don’t know about that” Sasuke said. “But it makes me wonder if Naruto is gay. It would explain why he wasn’t really bothered with Hinata’s breaking up with him.”  
“If that’s true why would Naruto have kept that a secret from us for so long?” Sakura asked as they started walking towards the Uchiha compound.   
“I guess for the same reason he didn’t tell us about nine tails.” Sasuke replied. “he was probably afraid, unsure of what either of us would think.” Sasuke said as he grabbed Sakura’s hand in his own.   
“Let’s say he is gay and in a relationship with your brother. Why would Naruto leave on a solo mission when he knows that Itachi could die at any time. If Naruto has feelings for him, he would stay with Itachi.” Sakura said frowning as she thought of her missing friend.  
“Unless Itachi wouldn’t accept Naruto because Itachi’s dying and doesn’t want Naruto to grieve.” Sasuke pointed out. “and that’s assuming that Naruto is gay to begin with.”  
“I can’t see that being the case.” Sakura said frowning. “I can’t see Naruto keeping us in the dark for so long.”  
“Naruto kept plenty of secrets from us.” Sasuke said as they reached the compound.   
“Just like we’ve kept plenty of our own from him.” Sakura said as she placed her hand on her stomach. This was a subject she hadn’t known how to approach with her blonde haired friend, she knew he would be happy for her and Sasuke but still she knew that Naruto eventually wanted a family of his own. To be honest Sakura hadn’t expected to get pregnant so quickly especially since Sasuke and her and hadn’t been married that long.  
“We didn’t plan on keeping this from him.” Sasuke pointed out. “The time just hasn’t been right and he took that mission rather suddenly.” Sakura frowned at the reminder that their mission would be searching for Naruto and hopefully bringing him home.   
“Do you really think we need to prepare for battle.” Sakura asked worried, she probably should have informed Tsunade of her pregnancy, but she had been more concerned with Naruto’s current status.   
“Who knows what kind of mess Naruto has gotten himself into.” Sasuke said. “If there is someone out there strong enough to take him out, then yes, I think preparing for battle would be a good idea.” Sakura nodded.  
“We’re going to find him right?” Sakura asked.  
“Of course we are.” Sasuke said “and then you can punch him into next week for making us worry so much.” Sakura gave him a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.Sasuke hated that she was so worried, Naruto was a strong fighter so Sasuke found it hard to believe that Naruto could just so easily disappear without a trace. Sasuke wondered if Itachi had said or done something to upset the blonde haired boy. Why else would Naruto take a solo mission without telling anyone. Sasuke supposed there was only one way to find out, he was going to have to ask Itachi about it.   
Sighing, Sasuke headed down the hall to where his brother’s room was. Sasuke entered the room without knocking first, finding his brother lying motionless on the bed.  
“Naruto?” Itachi’s weak voice filled Sasuke’s ears causing the younger Uchiha to grimace.   
“It’s me.” Sasuke said approaching the bed. “Naruto is on a mission.”  
“Oh,” Itachi sounded both confused and hurt and that made Sasuke more curious. He knew Naruto had been spending a lot of time with Itachi, and Sasuke had thought the two were only friend’s but could there have been more?  
“You want to tell me what’s going on?” Sasuke asked sitting down on the edge of Itachi’s bed. Itachi heaved a sigh and released it slowly, clearly trying to decide what to tell his brother.   
“Naruto told me he was in love with me.” Itachi said after a moment of silence.   
“So?” Sasuke asked. “Do you not care for him?”  
“It’s not that I don’t have feelings for him.” Itachi said “but it’s the fact that I’m dying and I don’t want to hurt him.”  
“So what happened when he confessed?” Sasuke asked.  
“I told him that I didn’t feel the same that I couldn’t feel the same for him.” Itachi said, his heart aching in his chest knowing how much that had probably hurt the other boy.  
“I think telling him that probably hurt him more than anything.” Sasuke said. “Your death is going to hurt him anyways, there’s no way of avoiding that.”  
“I don’t want to hurt him at all.” Itachi said “But I am dying. I don’t want him to mourn for me, even if I have to make him hate me.”  
“You deserve to be happy.” Sasuke said. “Even if you are dying, which by the way I am sure Tsunade and Shizune will work something out.”  
“I doubt that.” Itachi said “and I’m okay with that. What’s left for a blind ninja to do? I don’t want to be burden for you and Sakura especially with a little one on the way.”  
“You are not a burden.” Sasuke pointed out. “You took care of me when I was little, now it’s time that I take care of you.” Itachi turned his head in the direction that he heard Sasuke’s voice. Sasuke wished he could fine a cure for his older brother, it seemed kind of cruel for one that had been so loyal to his village to come to an end like this. And for that same ninja to believe that he didn’t deserve love and happiness in his final days was sad. Sasuke didn’t understand why Itachi wouldn’t want to be happy before he left this life. It wasn’t fair to either him or Naruto, speaking of Sasuke wondered whether or not he should tell his older brother about Naruto’s current missing status. Under normal circumstances Itachi would want to know, but with his current condition Sasuke feared that it would only make Itachi’s condition deteriorate that much quicker, and Sasuke didn’t want that to happen. He was worried about leaving Itachi for long.  
“You’re worried.” Itachi said after a moment’s silence. “What’s going on.”  
“I’m getting ready to leave on a mission.” Sasuke said “and I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone. Sakura is going with me.” Sasuke deliberately left out the information that was a search for Naruto. Could it be that he and Sakura were worrying for nothing? Perhaps Naruto had felt the need to leave Konoha due to the fact that Itachi had rejected him and he needed a break away from both Konoha and Itachi. Why wouldn’t Naruto have at least let Sakura know that he needed to get away. Sasuke could understand why Naruto hadn’t come to him since Itachi was his brother after all.  
“I assume that since you’ve already had your mission briefing, that Lady Hokage has made arrangements for while you are gone.” Itachi said.   
“Shizune is going to stay here with you while I am gone.” Sasuke said “if that’s okay with you.”  
“As long as she doesn’t constantly run tests.” Itachi said sounding weary.   
“They only want to find a cure.” Sasuke pointed out. “if they can find a cure maybe you and Naruto can finally be happy.”  
“Even if that happens. Naruto and I getting together wouldn’t be a good idea.” Itachi said, a hint of sadness in his voice.   
“Why would it be a bad idea?” Sasuke asked wondering what was running through his brother’s head.  
“Because even if they can find a cure for me. I’m still blind.” Itachi replied. “I don’t want Naruto to feel like he has to care for me. I don’t want to become just a responsibility for anyone. Besides how could someone like Naruto possibly feel anything for me after everything I’ve done. I was always destined to die young, if it wasn’t this illness it probably would have been Anbu.” Sasuke shook his head, for a supposed genius his brother was a total idiot when it came to matters of the heart. Why would he not want to be happy in however long he had left.   
“There’s nothing wrong with you.” Sasuke said “your loyal to Konoha and you served for as long as you could. That’s something to be proud of. And as far is being a bad person for the things you’ve done. You haven’t done anything the rest of us ninja haven’t. you are still as deserving of love as anyone else is.”  
“That may be.” Itachi said “but still Naruto deserves someone that is fully capable of returning his feelings.” Sasuke shook his head, he didn’t think he would ever understand his brother.   
“Would you let me know when Naruto gets home?” Itachi asked. “I guess I should try to explain things to him so maybe he could understand why I had to reject him.”  
“I’ll let him know.” Sasuke replied hoping that he would be able to tell Naruto to go see Itachi. “I guess I should get going. I’m sure Sakura has finished getting our things together.”  
“Be safe little brother.” Itachi said “come home safe.”  
“You don’t go anywhere until after I get back.” Sasuke replied knowing that Itachi didn’t exactly have a choice in the matter.   
“I’ll do my best.” Itachi said giving Sasuke a weak smile. He was growing more tired by the moment. Sasuke hated seeing his older brother reduced to this weak, barely alive being. He really hoped that Tsunade would find someway to save Itachi before it was too late. Sasuke couldn’t imagine life without his brother.   
“I’ll see you when I get back.” Sasuke told his already sleeping brother. It hurt Sasuke’s heart knowing that his brother didn’t have much time left.   
As Sasuke stated out the bedroom door, he turned and looked back at Itachi. Sasuke would do anything for Itachi but he couldn’t fix the illness that was slowly draining Itachi of his life and it left Sasuke feeling more helpless than ever.   
Sighing, Sasuke turned and exited the room to find Sakura waiting for him in the hallway.   
“How is he?” Sakura asked knowing how hard the situation was on Sasuke.   
“Not well.” Sasuke said swallowing hard. “And I think Naruto took that mission because of Itachi.” Sasuke told his wife. “Itachi told me that Naruto confessed to being in love with him and Itachi rejected him.” Sakura frowned, no wonder Naruto wanted to get away from everyone. He hadn’t wanted everyone to know that he had been rejected by Sasuke’s older brother. Sakura figured that Naruto would be embarrassed over the rejection. She hoped that they would be able to convince Naruto to come home and maybe convince Naruto to talk with Itachi, hopefully before it was too late for Itachi.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto: Reincarnated   
Chapter 2

Sasuke and Sakura left the house, each with their own set of worries on their mind, but both were thinking of their missing teammate. Was it possible that Naruto had abandoned whatever his mission was and had decided to leave Konoha for good? Sakura couldn’t see that happening, Naruto was the most loyal ninja that she had ever known. Even when the villagers had been treating Naruto badly, he still chose to stay and protect the village.  
“What’s going on with Naruto?” Sakura asked quietly. “What must be going through his mind right now?”   
“I’m not sure.” Sasuke answered. “But he must be hurting because of Itachi’s rejection. I don’t that would keep him from coming home though.”  
“What do you think Kakashi?” Sakura asked their masked team leader as the exited the village gates.  
“I think it might not have anything to do with any kind of rejection.” Kakashi replied. “Its very possible that he could have been captured by the ones we were trying to keep him away from.”  
“Then why let him take a solo mission?” Sakura wondered as the entered the forest. “Why let him leave the village at all.”  
“Naruto is a grown man for one.” Sasuke said “keeping him locked up would have led to a very unhappy Naruto. Besides the Akatsuki has been in hiding for some time now. There was no reason to think that Naruto couldn’t handle a solo mission.”   
“Still if there was even a hint that the Akatsuki was out of hiding, Lady Tsunade should have kept Naruto in the village, or at least sent someone to make sure that he made it to Suna.” Sakura said.   
“I don’t think that she could have made that stubborn idiot do anything.” Sasuke replied. “Especially if he was determined to get a way for a little while.”  
“I wish he had come to us before he had left.” Sakura murmured. “But I can see why he wouldn’t want to do that. It would have made both him and Itachi uncomfortable. I just hope that he’s okay wherever he is.”  
“You know how he is.” Sasuke told his wife. “He always gets his ass handed to him and then he makes a comeback.” Sakura smiled fondly at the comment, Sasuke was right, no matter how hard they had beaten him he always got back up for more. That was one of the many things that she loved about Naruto, his fierce loyalty and desire to protect those that he called his.  
“So if the Akatsuki did get their hands on Naruto.” Sakura murmured “Why now? Why wait so long?” She didn’t want to mention that if they were the ones responsible for Naruto’s missing status then it was likely that they had already extracted Nine tails, which at this point meant that they were likely looking for their friend’s body. That thought sent waves of sadness rolling through her, if he was already dead it meant that Naruto didn’t get to experience the same happiness that she and Sasuke did. Sakura wondered what Itachi would think if he knew that Naruto was missing and possibly dead. Would it make the man regret having rejected Naruto?  
“What’s wrong?” Sasuke asked, seeing the sad expression in Sakura’s green eyes. She shook her head and turned her attention to the ground.  
“I’m just worried about Naruto.” she finally answered. “I just want to bring Naruto home. I want him to be safe and sound.”  
“We’ll get him back.” Sasuke assured her. “He’s strong, he wouldn’t go down without a fight.”  
“Assuming that he didn’t just decide to abandon the village.” Kakashi said and Sasuke scowled at the masked man.   
“Naruto wouldn’t do that. He doesn’t have a disloyal bone in his body.” Sasuke told him, sounding irritated with the man.  
“We don’t know much about his disappearance either” Kakashi said. “we don’t know for sure that he was captured by the Akatsuki. Sasuke said it himself, Akatsuki have been in hiding for a while now. I don’t think we have a reason to fear them.”  
“Somethings not right.” Sasuke said. “Because Ninja don’t just disappear into thin air.” Sasuke didn’t like thinking that Naruto had run away because Itachi had rejected him, actually Sasuke didn’t believe that to be an option period. Naruto was used to people rejecting him considering how he had grown up with people hating him because of the Nine tails. Sasuke supposed that they would have to wait and find what Naruto’s campsite would tell them. Would there be signs of a struggle or will there even be a campsite because it had been planned for him to if that was the case Sasuke would kill him himself as soon as they found him.  
“You shouldn’t stress yourself out too much.” Sasuke told Sakura “because of the baby.”  
“I know.” Sakura said “but I can’t help but worry about Naruto.”  
“I’m betting that he’s fine.” Sasuke reassured his wife. He didn’t really believe it, but he wanted to be able to ease Sakura’s worry.  
“I don’t know.” Sakura said. “I’m starting to get the feeling that his mission wasn’t as easy as everyone thought it would be.” Sasuke hoped that feeling of hers was wrong. Naruto may not know it, but both Sasuke and Sakura depended on Naruto to brighten up their lives. Sasuke could always count on Naruto to spar with him when he was worried about Itachi, their training sessions always helped Sasuke to forget about what he was going through at the moment. What would happen if Naruto wasn’t there anymore? Sasuke didn’t want to think about it. He couldn’t stand the thought of Naruto not being in their lives anymore. Naruto was such a strong fighter that Sasuke almost thought of him as being completely invincible and Sasuke supposed that with Nine Tails, he probably was.  
“Now whose worrying?” Sakura said elbowing Sasuke in the ribs for the second time that day. “You miss him as much as I do.”  
“Of course, I do he’s my training partner.” Sasuke stated and Sakura shook her head.   
“There’s more to life than training all the time.” Sakura muttered. “although I hope our little one has your work ethic.”  
“Speaking of little ones.” Kakashi said. “when were you going to let Naruto and I know? When you were in labor?”  
“Of course not.” Sakura answered. “It would have been obvious before then. I just found out a couple weeks ago.”  
“We were waiting for the right time.” Sasuke said. “But Naruto took that mission, we planned on telling you guys once Naruto returned.”  
“And then he didn’t come back.” Kakashi added.   
“Unfortunately.” Sasuke muttered. “Now here we are out looking for him.”  
“It doesn’t feel right to not have him complaining about the mission.” Sakura said smiling as she remembered all the missions they had gone on as a team, the blonde boy complaining the entire time. Even though they were older now Naruto had never really grown out of the habit, and as much as it had always annoyed Sakura to listen to it, she could admit that she kind of missed it.  
“Are you kidding.” Sasuke said. “I don’t miss the complaining, our ears needed a break.” Sakura snored at Sasuke’s comment.  
“You miss arguing with him and you know it.” she told him.  
“Only because he was my training partner.” Sasuke informed her. “No one else will train with me.”   
“That’s because you would slaughter anyone training with you. Naruto is really the only one that is on par with your skills.” Sakura said. “You can’t them the others for wanting to survive a training session.” it was Sasuke’s turn to snort at that comment.  
“I’m not that bad.” He told her. “I can’t help it that everyone else sucks.” they paused a few minutes later when they reached what looked like an abandoned campsite. There was a small fire area that looked like it hadn’t been used in some time, and a bedroll that looked like it hadn’t been used in a while.   
“If they were planning on leaving this site.” Sakura said. “Why would they leave their things,.” she spotted a backpack not too far from the bedroll. “Whoever this belonged too hadn’t wanted to leave.” she could see scuffle marks in the dirt, signs that someone was taken when they hadn’t wanted to be taken. She could also smell faint traces of blood, but couldn’t find the source. She supposed that could have been an animals blood, but somehow she didn’t think so.  
“There are signs of a struggle, but I’m not sure this was Naruto’s campsite.” she told her teammates.  
“It was Naruto’s campsite.” Sasuke as a flash of orange in the bushes, caught his attention. Reaching into the bushes, Sasuke pulled out a blood stained orange jacket. Sakura stared at it in horror wondering exactly what had happened to their teammate.  
“Well, I guess this means that Naruto didn’t run away.” Sakura said reaching out and touching the jacket. “What happened to him?”   
“While this doesn’t bode well for Naruto.” Sasuke said anger filling him at the thought of his best friend being ambushed without any kind of backup to help him out. “it doesn’t mean that he’s dead, especially with his healing capabilities.”  
“It looks like we also have to consider that the Akatsuki have come out of hiding.” Kakashi said holding up a piece of dark fabric that had a red cloud on it.  
“Someone wanted us to know that they have him.” Sakura said, angry that they had the nerve to taunt them like that. “Why now?” she wondered, her heart filling with fear for her friend. For them to have been able to grab Naruto, they must have been powerful indeed.   
“I’m thinking they were probably trying to recover from their losses.” Kakashi said. “then they started the recruiting process again.”  
“How did we not hear of this?” Sasuke asked angrily. “Konoha has enough spies that we should have heard something about the Akatsuki recruiting.”  
“I don’t know.” Kakashi replied. “But if we have hope to find Naruto alive, we better start searching now. We can only assume that they want him for Nine Tails, and the extraction process takes three days.” Naruto had been gone for a week, so the possibility that the demon had already been extracted and their friend lying dead somewhere weighed heavily on everyone’s mind.  
“I think we better hurry up then.” Sasuke said. “Naruto won’t have much time left.” he wasn’t going to allow Naruto to die so easily, and once this was over Sasuke was going to somehow make Itachi see sense. If Itachi really wanted Naruto there was no reason why he couldn’t have him.   
“I think this is where my summons will come in handy.” Kakashi said his hands flying through the hand signs before slamming into the ground. Pakkun showed up immediately.  
“What’s up boss?” The pug asked.  
“I need you to find Naruto.” Kakashi told him, taking the jacket from Sasuke and holding it up for the dog to smell. Kakashi knew that Naruto’s scent had probably faded, but he had to try something to find his former student. He had the feeling he knew what they would find but he wasn’t going to voice that thought to Sasuke and Sakura. They deserved to believe that Naruto was okay somewhere in Suna. Pakkun inhaled deeply, catching Naruto’s scent from the jacket, pulling away he stuck his nose to the ground picking up a quickly fading scent that matched the one on the jacket. He headed deeper into the forest, the members of Team 7 following quickly behind him. Pakkun was determined he was going to find the blonde boy no matter how faded the scent. His master deserved to know about his missing student.  
“I guess it’s a good think it hasn’t rained in a while.” Sasuke said as he ran to keep up with the ninja summons. “otherwise Pakkun would be useless.”  
“We would have found him eventually.” Sakura said. “I’m sure of it.” still she couldn’t explain the feeling of dread that filled her the further they went into the forest. She had a sick feeling that that they weren’t going to like what they were. going to find, of course that feeling could be contributed to morning sickness as well. Sakura hoped that more than anything that that was the reason why she was feeling sick.  
“Are you okay?” Sasuke asked taking note of his wife’s pale features. He was starting to think that it would have been better for Sakura to have remained in Konoha. Whatever they found he could only hope that it wouldn’t make Sakura lose the baby.   
“I’m scared.” Sakura answered him. “I’m scared for Naruto. There was a lot of blood on that jacket.”  
“It might not have been his though.” Sasuke replied. “he very well could have taken one of those assholes down.”  
“Probably.” Sakura agreed but it did nothing to settle the fear that had covered her like a dark blanket. She wanted desperately for Naruto to be okay, she would even be willing to deal with Naruto becoming a missing Nin if it meant that her knucklehead teammate was still alive.  
“You’re worrying too much.” Sasuke said softly, his hand reaching out and grabbing hold of Sakura’s, wanting nothing more than to tell her that she was worrying for nothing. What would Itachi think Sasuke wondered if he knew that his rejection of Naruto had driven the blonde into the arms of death? Would it even bother the older Nin that Naruto wasn’t around anymore? Sasuke would like to think that it would, but he didn’t know. He couldn’t help but wonder how long Naruto had had feelings for Itachi, it couldn’t have been that long, unless Naruto had admired Itachi from afar for some time. Why had Naruto waited until Itachi was on his deathbed to do anything? Maybe Naruto hadn’t been sure that what he felt was love and not just attraction. Whatever the reason Sasuke didn’t think they would ever get the answers. Twenty minutes later, they arrived at a clearing where they found a cave buried deeply in the side of a mountain and was nearly completely hidden by the surrounding bushes. Sasuke Sakura glanced at each other before they entered the cave, still following their team leader’s summons.  
“Naruto was here at some point.” Pakkun told the group. “His scent is everywhere, although it has faded quite a bit.”  
“How long ago was he here?” Sakura asked as they entered a large cavern with what looked like a stone table in the middle of a giant hand. They had the feeling that something terrible had taken place here, something that would change their lives in ways that they hadn’t ever imagined.  
“I don’t know.” Pakkun answered, sniffing at the table. “his scent isn’t that strong.”  
“How did they have a hideout so close to Konoha and we didn’t even know it?” Sakura wondered. “That doesn’t make me feel too good about our security.”  
“It is troubling.” Kakashi said looking around. “It doesn’t seem like they stayed here very long.”  
“Probably because they would have gotten caught eventually.” Sasuke said. “At any rate they got what they were looking for and cleared out quickly.”  
“We could have stopped this” Sakura said “if we had been more aware that Akatsuki was gathering strength again. We could have kept Naruto safe.”  
“We all thought we had destroyed the group of terrorists.” Kakashi said. “There was no reason to believe they hadn’t been destroyed when they came after Naruto the last time.”  
Two years ago the Akatsuki had attacked Konoha so they could get their hands on the nine tails Jinchuuriki. Somehow Konoha had managed to stop them and the price they paid was that half the village had been destroyed in the ensuing battle. Still they had believed that all of the Akatsuki members had been killed.  
As the three Nin stood there in the cave, they realized just how costly that mistake had been. Their friend and teammate may have paid with his life.   
“How could we not have realized that one had gotten away?” Sakura wondered.  
“They probably didn’t send everyone.” Kakashi answered “or their numbers were greater than what we were led to believe.”  
“Stand here discussing the past isn’t going to help find Naruto.” Sasuke said impatiently, every minute wasted was a one less minute that they had to find Naruto.   
“There’s an exit back here.” Sasuke heard Pakkun call from another tunnel in the cave. Taking a deep breath Sasuke followed after the summons, his heart was pounding in his chest whether from fear or adrenaline Sasuke wasn’t sure. All he knew was that he had the feeling that they weren’t too far from finding Naruto.   
Racing through the tunnel Sasuke wondered how far they would have to go to get to the end of the tunnel. It seemed like it was taking them forever to get out. How was it that they hadn’t been aware that such a massive cave was that close to Konoha? If Naruto had Nine Tails extracted then why had they not come under attack from the powerful demon? It was no secret that Kurama didn’t like Konoha. Sasuke growled low in his throat, he really didn’t want to think about that right now.   
Finally when he reached the exit of the tunnel, the first thing he noticed was how green the land was surrounding the cave, and then the sound of rushing water filled his ears and he spotted the river that wasn’t too far from the entrance to the cave. The area was covered in different brightly covered flowers and trees.  
“Wow.” Sakura breathed beside Sasuke. “It’s gorgeous.” It was indeed gorgeous but even though Sasuke had allowed the beauty of the area to distract him, his eyes continued their search for his friend.   
Pakkun released a long, mournful howl that direct Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi down a river bank about 300 feet from the cave. Slipping and sliding, the managed to reach Pakkun within a few minutes. Upon reaching the bottom of the hill, the sight before him made his stomach twist and Sasuke felt like vomiting. His best friend lay shirtless, and motionless in the mud next to the river. Naruto’s normally tan skin was ghostly pale, what upset Sasuke further was that Naruto wasn’t breathing, and the what made him really want to get sick was the birds, ripping and tearing off bits of Naruto’s flesh, swallowing it before picking off more from Naruto’s body.   
“Get away from him.” Sakura yelled scaring the birds off before she dropped to her knees in the mud. Tears filled her eyes as she reached out and touched his throat, feeling for a pulse even though she knew it wouldn’t be there.   
“Naruto.” she whispered dropping her hands to the spots where the birds had been eating Naruto’s flesh, healing them and making it look blemish free.   
“The seal is gone.” Sasuke spoke, his shock making his voice sound hoarse. “they extracted the demon so close to home and we didn’t even know it.” Agony tore through Sasuke as he stared at his fallen friend. How could this be happening? None of it even seemed real. Naruto was one of those people that you nothing bad could ever happen too. Obviously that theory was wrong, as Naruto lay lifeless in the mud before them, his body broken and bruised ,disposed of like he was nothing more than trash. Sasuke supposed that to those other power hungry maniacs that's exactly what Naruto was.  
“Come back to us Naruto!” Sakura sobbed as she pressed her hands to Naruto’s chest and tried to force chakra into his heart.  
“He can’t be saved, Sakura.” Sasuke said brokenly. “Once the demon has been extracted from the host, the Jinchuuriki dies.”  
“They saved Gaara.” Sakura insisted. “it could work for Naruto too.”  
“Only if you want to die.” Sasuke said. “Chiyo traded her life for Gaara’s, if you tried that you won’t be the only one to die. So will our child.” Sasuke knew that was perhaps cruel to remind her of the child in the face of the greatest loss that their team had ever faced.  
“I want him back!” Sakura sobbed leaning over and resting her head on Naruto’s chest. “He never got to see any of his dreams come true.”  
“Nor did he get to experience the joy of being truly loved.” Sasuke said closing his eyes. He wanted nothing more than for this pain to stop. It hurt so much that Sasuke felt like he couldn’t even move without something inside him breaking further. If they had been better ninja, they could have prevented this loss.   
“I’m going to send a message to the Hokage.” A stunned Kakashi informed the two Nin. “She needs to know what happened, and she needs to be able to tell Iruka.”   
“Oh Kami.” Sakura said, sitting up as she ran her fingers through once vibrant blonde hair. “This is going to kill Iruka.” Both Sasuke and Sakura knew that Iruka was one of the first people to acknowledge Naruto. They also both knew how much Naruto had adored the man that Naruto saw him as a father figure.  
“I’m so sorry.” Sakura whispered lifting Naruto’s head into her lap, not caring about the mud that she was transferring to her clothes. “How he must have suffered.” Sasuke swallowed hard and knelt down beside Sakura. He wished that this was a nightmare that he would wake up from at any moment. Better yet, Sasuke wished that he could trade places with Naruto. Reaching out, Sasuke touched a dirt stained cheek with his finger. He’d had the feeling that something like this could have happened, but Sasuke was no where near prepared for the reality of the loss. How was he going to explain this to Itachi without making his brother feel guilty? Because once Sasuke told Itachi that Naruto was gone, he knew the guilt would come. Itachi would no doubt blame himself for Naruto’s leaving.  
“I wish this would have been the case of Naruto abandoning the village.” Sasuke said. “That would have been easier to accept than this.”  
“I know.” Sakura said. “It seems like at any moment this body will disappear into thin air because it isn’t really him, its just a clone.” Sakura felt more tears well up in her eyes again. “Maybe we could have tried a little harder with him after the wedding? I know he felt a little lost because we are pretty much his only family next to Kakashi and Iruka. Maybe we could have spent more time with him?”  
“There’s a thousand things that we could have done differently.” Sasuke said softly. “But thinking of them now won’t change anything. Nothing can change no matter how much we want it too.”   
“We can always try for a better future.” Sakura mumbled though at the moment it didn’t feel like there would be much of a future without the rambunctious blonde. “I wish we could have been there for him so that he didn’t have to die alone. Naruto didn’t deserve that after living so much of his life alone.”  
“If we were there, he wouldn’t have had to die.” Sasuke said wondering how long it would take him to track down the ones responsible for causing this. He didn’t care how long it took, he would wipe out everyone single one of those assholes.   
“Don’t worry those guys were ripped apart for causing this.” A red haired man said approaching them from the river.  
“Who are you?” Sasuke asked “and why do you care?”  
“I care because I’m the one they sought to free from my so called prison.” the man said stopping in front of Naruto and Sakura.  
“You are Kurama? Sakura asked. “I thought you were a nine tailed fox demon?”  
“I can appear as anything I want to be.” Kurama replied. “I figured I wouldn’t scare you if I appeared as a man.”  
“Why did those guys decide to extract you?” Sakura asked.  
“They believe me to be a god and that as such I shouldn’t spend my life trapped inside a host body.” Kurama replied.  
“That doesn’t sound like something The Akatsuki would do. They were too power hungry.”  
“That’s because these guys weren’t the original Akatsuki.” Kurama replied. “The originals were wiped out in the last attack on Konoha. These guys were just wannabes. There goal wasn’t to create their own world, but to free all the tailed beasts from their so called prisons.”  
“Then why kill them?” Sasuke asked. “They weren’t causing harm to citizens or anything.”  
“They knew that it would kill Naruto.” Kurama replied “and the continued the process anyways, and then they just dumped his body like it meant nothing. I suspect they figured the river would wash him away.”  
“What are you doing here then? Why aren’t you out enjoying your freedom?”  
“I came here because I felt your presence.” Kurama said. “I know that both of you meant something to Naruto and that Naruto meant something to you.” Sakura’s heart ached at the words, she wished that she could have told Naruto how much she loved him before he had left this life.   
“He was the best friend and training partner that anyone could ever ask for.” Sasuke said. “he didn’t deserve to have this happen to him.”  
“I’m here to tell you that while his spirit has left this body. Its in the process of being reborn, he will be with you again only in another form. A soul as pure as his, deserves this.” Kurama told them. 

Thanks for reading and reviewing. This story is slightly different from the anime/manga. Itachi and Sasuke never left the village, The Uchiha clan was murdered but Itachi wasn’t the one to do it. I hope this chapter makes sense. liz


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto: Reincarnated  
Chapter 3

“I guess we should get him home.” Sasuke said as he stood up. “Lady Tsunade will want him to get cleaned up.”  
“I don’t want to let him go.” Sakura said, clinching Naruto’s body tighter in her arms.  
“He’s not there anymore.” Kurama pointed out. “his spirit will soon be with you again.”  
“I want him back now.” Sakura said. “I want him to be able to live out his dreams.”  
“Sometimes that isn’t meant to happen.” Kurama replied. “he will have a better future now.”  
“Come on Sakura.” Sasuke said softly. “he shouldn’t be out here too much longer. If the birds have already started eating at him, I’m sure the insects have too.” Sakura grimaced not liking the thought of the bugs eating her friend.  
“Fine.” She mumbled, releasing her grip on Naruto’s body. She closed her eyes as Sasuke bent down and lifted Naruto up, one arm underneath the knees and the other underneath Naruto’s neck. As Sasuke stood with him, Sakura placed Naruto’s arms on his stomach so that his arms wouldn’t be dangling.   
“Let’s get him home.” Sasuke said softly knowing how hard it was on Sakura to see their friend like this. It didn’t seem natural for Naruto to be so still.   
“It’s not fair.” Sakura said. “he didn’t stand a chance at really getting to live.”  
“I don’t think life has ever been fair to Naruto.” Sasuke said as he started up the hill towards the cave. Sakura sighed wondering how they would be able to make it back to Konoha without dehydrating herself from crying so much. Sakura followed behind Sasuke keeping her eyes on the ground so that she wouldn’t have to see Naruto dangling in Sasuke’s arms. This whole situation still didn’t seem real, at least Sakura didn’t want it to be real. She didn’t want things to change when Kurama had said that Naruto’s spirit would be coming back to them again she wondered in what form it would be. Would it be in another child or something completely different?   
Placing her hand on her stomach, Sakura wished that she had told Naruto about his future niece or nephew. Sasuke’s and Sakura’s child would never know the wonder that was Naruto Uzumaki. He/she would grow up knowing about Naruto’s legend though. There were many things that could be learned from Naruto’s life.  
“I’m sorry Naruto.” Sakura murmured as they exited the cave to find Kakashi staring blankly at the ground.   
“Did you message Lady Tsunade?” Sakura asked softly.  
“She will be meeting us at the gates.” Kakashi answered. “I think that she knew that this end was a possibility but she didn’t want to believe it.”  
“I think we all knew that.” Sasuke said. “But none of us were actually prepared for this.”  
“How does one prepare for something like this?” Sakura wondered. “No matter how much you try to prepare nothing will fix the pain that we feel.”  
“It’s not right to be leaving like this.” Kakashi murmured. “Naruto should be alive and well. We should be dragging him home from his visit with Gaara.”  
“Nothing will ever be the same but that doesn’t mean that he won’t still be with us. I think he would come back to haunt us if we forget even the slightest detail.” Sakura murmured wishing that they were back in Konoha already. She wasn’t looking forward to this journey even if it was only a few hours away.   
“He certainly wouldn’t be happy with us right now, being all depressed.” Sasuke said, finding it hard to look down at the bundle in his arms, he didn’t want to see how lifeless his friend was. Worst of all would be telling Itachi, and that was if his brother would be able to handle the news. Sasuke really hoped that it wouldn’t push Itachi closer to the grave.  
“I think we should head out now, standing here won’t get us any closer to Konoha.” Kakashi said, but both Sasuke and Sakura knew that he wasn’t in any more of a hurry to get back then they were. The small group headed towards the path that would lead them home. They would make sure that Naruto would get the honor and respect that he deserved.   
For the most part the return trip was made in silence, each lost in their own memories of the hyperactive ninja that they had all loved. Years worth of memories of the boy running through their minds. All remembering how Naruto had been treated and no one had ever really stepped in to help him. They had all watched as Naruto had changed the villagers opinion’s by his own strength and willpower. It was amazing to see the people who had once despised Naruto recognize him as the hero that he always had been. It was a shame that it had taken the villagers so long to see in Naruto what his team had seen in him long before. Thinking about it now, Sakura wished that she had been kinder to him from the beginning. But like Sasuke had said earlier it didn’t do any good to think about the things you couldn’t change. All you could do was somehow make peace with the past and learn to live with it.   
As Konoha’s Gates came into view, Sakura spotted Tsunade and Iruka waiting for them, and as their small group approached them. Sakura could already tell that Iruka had been crying, it hurt Sakura’s heart to see the pain in the older man’s eyes., Iruka had truly loved Naruto.  
Their group stopped at the gates, pausing for Tsunade to reach out and touch Naruto’s cool skin. Tears formed in the blonde haired woman’s eyes.  
“If I knew they were waiting for you. I wouldn’t allow to take that mission.” The people present could easily see the guilt in her eyes. It wasn’t hard to guess that she blamed herself for Naruto’s death.   
“I’m sorry kiddo.” Tsunade said softly. “we should have known that they wouldn’t have given up on getting their hands on nine tails.”  
“It wasn’t exactly the same group.” Sasuke explained. “Kurama said they were basically ninja that worshiped the tailed beasts and believed that they should live free from their hosts.”  
“What kind of garbage is that?” Tsunade asked. “They still would have to be powerful enough to be able to do the extraction process. How did they even know how to do that to begin with? Do they pose a threat to the village?”  
“Kurama took care of them?” Sasuke replied.   
“So does he pose a threat?” Tsunade asked.  
“I don’t think so.” Sasuke answered. “He just kind of disappeared but I would imagine that he will be a guardian of sorts. He won’t want to destroy the village that Naruto loved so much.”  
“I’ll take him.” Tsunade told Sasuke. “he’ll need to get cleaned up while the funeral arrangements are made.”  
For a moment Sasuke’s grip on Naruto tightened, he didn’t want to let Naruto go because it would be admitting that Naruto was really gone and Sasuke wasn’t ready to admit that.   
“Hang on.” Iruka said as Sasuke started to hand Naruto to Tsunade. The brown haired man approached and looked down at the boy he’d loved like a son.  
“Life shouldn’t have ended this way for you.” Iruka said softly. “You deserved the world and deserved to see your dreams come true. I would have been proud to have called you Hokage. I hope you find some peace in your next life. You’ve earned it, rest in peace sweet boy.” Iruka closed his eyes and bent down and pressed his lips to Naruto’s forehead.  
“I’m sorry, Iruka.” Sasuke said quietly. “I wish we could have had a better outcome.”  
“It’s not your fault.” Iruka said quietly. “No one expected for this to happen.” Sasuke swallowed hard as he passed Naruto’s body to Tsunade, his arms feeling as empty as his heart. From here he would have to inform Itachi what had happened with Naruto, it wasn’t something that he wanted to do, but Itachi deserved to know. Both Sasuke and Sakura watched until Tsunade had disappeared with Naruto’s body, before turning and heading towards the street that would take them home.  
“I think it’s time to go home and check on Itachi.” Sasuke said. “I’m assuming that since Tsunade didn’t sent a messenger bird that Itachi is doing okay for the moment.” Sakura gave him a sad smile and nodded.   
“I don’t want to have to tell Itachi about this.” Sasuke said. “I’m not entirely sure what he feels for Naruto, I don’t know how he’s going to take this.”  
“Probably shouldn’t worry about that right now.” Sakura said. “You will have the words when the time is right.” Sasuke sighed and reached out and grabbed Sakura’s hand. He was grateful that he had married her, because Kami knows after everything that Sasuke had put her through, she should have left him in the dust.   
“Things are going to be different from now on.” Sakura said as they turned down another street that brought them closer to home.   
“I don’t think that’s a change I want to get used to.” Sasuke said heaving a weary sigh, he was bone tired and wanted nothing more than to forget that this mission had ever taken place. When he’d gotten up this morning, he hadn’t expected to get called to the Hokage’s office, hadn’t expected that the mission would be locating his best friend. Neither had he expected to find that same best friend lying dead with birds plucking at his skin. Finding Naruto that way was the stuff nightmares were made of, and it hurt that those doing the extraction hadn’t thought that Naruto had deserved a proper burial. He couldn’t help but hope that Kurama had made the murderers suffer tremendous agony before leaving them out in the sun to be picked apart by the birds. It would serve them right to be dumped like they weren’t worth anything more than dirt.   
“Try not to think about it.” Sakura said knowing that would be hard for Sasuke to do. Impossible even because Sasuke’s mind kept going over how Naruto had been found.  
“He deserved more than just getting dumped like that.” Sasuke told her. “They could have at least buried him.”  
“I know. But we brought him home. He’ll get the burial he deserves.” Sakura said softly as they reached the compound. “I’ll get our things put away and get dinner started.” Sasuke nodded and pressed his mouth to Sakura’s for a quick kiss.   
“I’ll be with Itachi if you need me.” Sasuke told her before heading down the hall. He paused outside Itachi’s door still trying to find the words to tell Itachi what had happened? Finally after several minutes, Sasuke drew in a deep breath, releasing it slowly before entering the room.   
“Naruto?” an extremely weak voice asked and Sasuke swallowed hard, Itachi’s voice held so much hope that it hurt Sasuke to hear it.  
“It’s me Itachi.” Sasuke said softly walking over to the bed.   
“How’d your mission go?” Itachi asked quietly, turning his head in the direction that he had heard Sasuke come from. “Since your back already, I assume that it went well.”  
“Sort of.” Sasuke answered. “it was a fairly easy mission. What are your feelings for Naruto?” Sasuke asked biting his lip. Itachi heaved a sigh and Sasuke knew that his brother didn’t want to talk about it.   
“How I feel about him doesn’t matter because I won’t seek a relationship with him.” Itachi stated. “I think that what I may or may not feel is my own business little brother.” Sasuke scowled, he knew that Itachi tended to close his emotions off, it was something that he had learned to do when he was in the Anbu but living with no emotions was next to impossible. Sasuke had the feeling that telling Itachi about Naruto would likely get the older man to open up about what he felt.   
“Denying that you feel something for him isn’t healthy and it only serves to deprive both of you of happiness. Which isn’t fair to either of you.” Sasuke told him angered by his reluctance to talk about it.  
“I know you don’t understand, Sasuke, but it’s my choice whether I accept him or not.” Itachi said. “and if you are going to nag me about it go somewhere else, I’m tired and would like to go back to sleep.”  
“Fine. Naruto’s gone.” Sasuke stated harshly, “and he’s never coming back again.”  
“What the hell do you mean by that?” Itachi asked sounding more than a little concerned.   
“I mean that Naruto disappeared a week ago when he went on his mission. My mission was to find him and bring him back.” Sasuke said.  
“And did you find him?” Itachi asked.  
“We just delivered his body to the Hokage.” Sasuke answered, staring down at the floor as he drew in another deep breath, releasing it slowly. “He was murdered so Nine tails could be released.” Sasuke watched as Itachi closed his eyes for a moment. He felt kind of bad about how he had broken the news to Itachi, but his older brother had irritated him to no end with his denial. He also suspected that Itachi’s feelings for Naruto went deeper than even he realized and that perhaps Sasuke should have found a more gentle approach to the subject.  
As Sasuke turned to head out the door, he watched a tear drop down from Itachi’s blind eye and down his face leaving a wet trial behind. That tear told Sasuke that Itachi did indeed have deep feelings for his teammate. Sasuke didn’t understand why Itachi had kept his feelings to himself, it wasn’t like Sasuke would reject Itachi for feeling that way. Sasuke loved his brother and wanted him to be happy. After all that Itachi had been through for the village, he deserved some happiness.  
“Take me to him.” Itachi whispered. “I need to see him.” Sasuke could already hear the guilt in his brother’s voice and it only made him feel guiltier.   
“Are you sure you feel up to it?” Sasuke asked, Itachi hadn’t had the energy to get out of bed for a few days now. Sasuke didn’t want to cause his brother any undue stress that would make Itachi lose his battle with the illness that much faster.  
“Probably not.” Itachi answered “But I need to see him.” Sasuke nodded and walked over to the closet where Itachi’s wheelchair was currently stored, pulling it out, Sasuke put his hand in the middle of the seat and pressed down, making the seat flatten out, before rolling it over next to Itachi’s bed. Putting the brakes on, Sasuke reached over and gently pulled Itachi into a sitting position.  
“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Sasuke asked. He wasn’t sure if Lady Tsunade would even allow Itachi to see Naruto before the funeral. Then again she might because she had known that Naruto had been crazy about Itachi, but Itachi’s feelings had remained unknown to everyone else, including Naruto. Sasuke had the feeling they were about to learn just important Naruto had been to Itachi.  
“Of course I’m sure.” Itachi said. “It’s important that I see him.” Sasuke wondered about that, but he proceeded to help Itachi into the wheelchair and when his brother was sitting comfortably Sasuke pushed him out of his room. If Itachi wanted to visit with what was left of Naruto who was he to stop him?  
“I’m taking Itachi to see Lady Tsunade.” Sasuke called down the hallway knowing that Sakura could hear him.  
“Okay,” she called back. “dinner will be on the table when you get back.” Sasuke sighed as he pushed Itachi out of the house and headed toward the Hokage Tower. Naruto wouldn’t be there, his body would likely be somewhere in the hospital, but they still needed to get permission from the Hokage to get in to see him.  
“Are you mad at me?” Itachi asked finally breaking the silence.  
“Why would I be mad at you?” Sasuke asked, frowning at his brother’s back.  
“Because I chased your best friend off.” Itachi replied.  
“No. I’m not mad. Naruto couldn’t be stopped from taking solo missions. No one thought there were still people out there whom wanted Nine Tails. There was no reason to believe it.” Sasuke said. He didn’t want to tell his brother just how much he was hurting though, he didn’t want Itachi to feel any guiltier than he already did.  
“I think you were probably scared of the way you felt, because Anbu taught you to shut off your emotions.” Sasuke told his brother.  
“That doesn’t really help.” Itachi said. “I couldn’t even tell him what he wanted to hear. I don’t think my Anbu days had anything to do with it.”  
“You shouldn’t have told him you cared just because he wanted to hear it.” Sasuke said. “That would have hurt him even more if he found out that you didn’t care as much as he did.” Sasuke wondered if Itachi truly felt anything for Naruto, this conversation was really making him wonder if it was only Naruto that had any kind of feelings.  
“Maybe not.” Itachi muttered. After that the two fell into silence each getting lost in their own thoughts.   
By the time Sasuke had reached the Hokage Tower, Tsunade was just leaving, she paused when she spotted the two Uchiha’s coming towards her.  
“What can I do for you?” She asked as Sasuke stopped in front of her.  
“Itachi wants to visit with Naruto.” Sasuke said.   
“I suppose with Itachi’s condition being what it is, it can’t hurt.” Tsunade said referring to Itachi’s deteriorating condition. “I’m headed to the hospital now you can just come with me.” Sasuke nodded, dreading the moment that his eyes would fall on his best friend’s body. Sasuke feared that he would have a complete break down this time, Sasuke had done well keeping his emotions in check up to this point. However, Sasuke didn’t think that it would last much longer once he saw Naruto again.  
At the hospital Sasuke and the wheelchair bound Itachi followed Tsunade into a cool room. Naruto’s body was laid out on a metal table in the middle of the room. The mud that he had been covered in had been cleaned off, leaving him much cleaner than he had been when he’d been found.   
“What’s he look like?” Itachi asked as Sasuke rolled him over to the table. Sasuke looked up at the ghostly pale body.   
“He looks like he’s at peace.” Sasuke answered unsure of how to describe his friend to his older brother. “All that’s missing is warm, bright smile.”  
“Help me stand?” Itachi asked Sasuke. Itachi didn’t have much strength because of his illness but he was determined to stand beside Naruto. Sasuke reached down placing a hand around each of Itachi’s biceps, trying not to grimace at the amount of weight his brother had lost, before gently pulling Itachi up.   
Once Itachi was standing, he reached out and touched Naruto’s face. Itachi’s fingers tracing over every inch of the blonde boy’s face, his fingers finding Naruto’s nose, and mouth. Itachi’s fingers slowly traced over Naruto’s lips before gently ghosting over Naruto’s eyes.  
“I’m sorry.” Itachi whispered as his fingers continued to trace Naruto’s features. “Maybe if I hadn’t been so scared and pushed you away, you might still be here.” Itachi swallowed hard, it was his fault that Naruto no longer had a life to live. If Itachi had only accepted Naruto’s love, the hyperactive Nin wouldn’t have taken the mission that had stolen his life. Itachi’s fingers traced over Naruto’s lips again. He wished that for a moment he could look upon Naruto’s face. Why had Itachi been afraid to tell Naruto how he felt? If he hadn’t pushed Naruto away the man would still be alive.   
“I’m sorry, angel,” Itachi said softly his fingers continuing their journey of discovery. “You didn’t deserve this and I could have prevented it from happening. I didn’t want my death to hurt you, but now I know that I was wrong. If only you knew how much you were truly loved. Maybe you wouldn’t have taken that mission.” Itachi swallowed hard before bending down and gently touching his lips to Naruto’s cool lips.  
“I wish I could have done this earlier, that I hadn’t been so afraid.” Itachi said as he pressed another kiss to Naruto’s lips before pulling away and collapsing back into his wheelchair, his strength drained.   
“Take me home.” Itachi told Sasuke “I can’t be here anymore.”  
“Okay” Sasuke said softly, his heart bleeding after watching how Itachi had traced Naruto’s face, it was like Itachi had been trying to memorize Naruto’s face.   
“I wish I wasn’t blind.” Itachi said. “I could look upon his face just one more time. My fingers don’t get enough of the details.”  
“I don’t know how you see things with your fingers anyways.” Sasuke said as he turned Itachi’s wheelchair towards the door.   
“You would understand better if you were blind.” Itachi replied harsh enough to stop any other questions from his brother. Itachi knew that his behavior would have told Sasuke all that he wanted to know about how Itachi felt about Naruto, Itachi didn’t want to talk about it. He wanted to be able to mourn for Naruto and he didn’t want Sasuke to pester him all the while he done so. Itachi knew that Sasuke would want to help him, but Itachi was going to get through it himself and then he would die, and hopefully be reunited with Naruto again.   
“I only want to help you Itachi.” Sasuke said quietly. “Obviously you cared more for him then you admitted. His loss isn’t easy to deal with.”  
“And I will deal with it on my own.” Itachi said, a warning tone to his voice. “I deserve to deal with it alone.”  
“Itachi” Sasuke started.  
“Enough. Sasuke just let me die in peace already.” Itachi snapped. He knew his brother meant well, but all that he wanted to do was mourn in peace. He didn’t want anyone around to see that. He especially didn’t want Sasuke to see how guilty he really felt about this whole mess. It was his fault that Naruto was dead and his little brother no longer had a best friend. Naruto was supposed to be the one to help Sasuke get through Itachi’s own death. Now Sasuke would only have Sakura and Kakashi.   
The trip back to the compound was made in silence. Itachi lost in memories of the blonde boy who had unexpectedly brought light to his dark world. When they reached the house, Sasuke rolled Itachi into his bedroom, and helped get Itachi back into bed before pushing the wheelchair into a corner and silently making his way out of the room. As Sasuke closed the door behind him, he heard Itachi give a soft cry of pain and it brought tears to Sasuke’s eyes. He hated that Itachi wanted to deal with this alone. Sasuke didn’t understand why his brother wanted to do it that way. Doing things this way had ended up costing him Naruto.  
“I’m sorry, Itachi.” Sasuke said resting his head against the door, while tears silently slid down his face. He hated that Itachi was hurting and wouldn’t allow him to help. Feeling a hand on his back, Sasuke looked up to a see a red rimmed green eyes looking at him.  
“How did it go? Was it a check up for Itachi’s health?” Sakura asked.  
“He wanted to see Naruto.” Sasuke said. “You should have seen it, the way he touched Naruto’s face. I think he wanted to memorize Naruto’s face. It was kind of beautiful. It left me with no doubt that Itachi was as in love with Naruto as Naruto was with him.”  
“Why is he denying himself much deserved happiness?” Sakura wondered.  
“He didn’t want Naruto to grieve for him.” Sasuke answered. “And I think Itachi was scared of how he felt. I don’t think he had ever felt as deeply for anyone what he felt for Naruto.”  
“I guess that makes sense.” Sakura said. “But one would think that Itachi would be fearless.”  
“He wasn’t scared of anything physical.” Sasuke said. “But he feared things emotionally, because we lost our parents when we were young. I think he feared losing someone else that he cared about.”  
“His fear of losing those he cares about caused him to push Naruto away.” Sakura pointed out. “which led up to him losing Naruto.”  
“Just because my brother is a genius doesn’t mean that he is always smart.” Sasuke stated. “Aside from Itachi’s impending death, things were going okay.”  
“I know it still doesn’t feel real.” Sakura murmured. “But I don’t think he would want us to spend all of our time grieving for him.”  
“Easier said than done, we still have to get through the funeral.” Sasuke said “and to be honest I don’t know that Itachi will make it much longer, he’s already incredibly weak. As much as I want Lady Tsunade to find a cure, I don’t think she will.”  
“Don’t give up hope.” Sakura said pulling back and grabbing Sasuke’s hand. Pulling him gently towards their bedroom, Sakura knew that Sasuke was about to break from all that he had been going through lately. He deserved to be able to do that in the privacy of their bedroom.

Thanks for reading and reviewing! Liz


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